"Being from Georgia, being in a bobsled is a culture shock," said Hill. "I had seen Cool Runnings on TV; that's pretty much everything I knew about it."

But she learned the sport quickly, and she began the 2013 season eyeing the 2014 Olympics.

"I was the fifth-ranked pilot in the US," says Hill. "I was ready to just claw my way up the rankings and get after it."

That journey changed during a practice run in Park City, Utah. Hill rounded the sixth curve on the track, and then she crashed.

"Your helmet is on the ice, dragging on the ice," she describes. "The sled is completely out of control, upside-down, flying down the curves. I just closed my eyes to wait until it was over."

Crashes in sliding events happen all the time. So, unfortunately, do concussions.

"When you're watching the Games, those athletes have all been through crashes," Hill says. "It happens."

But Hill's concussion didn't go away. She lifted all summer to prepare for the Olympic season. The week before the season began, in Lake Placid, she went to a doctor to get cleared to race ... and was told she could not.

One year later, Hill still can't shake her symptoms.

"I see floaters; I see bright flashes," Hill says. "There's a lot they don't know about the brain; everyone reacts differently, and they don't know how long it takes."

While she waits, she works, training kids of all ages at a gym in Woodstock. A masters degree graduate of Auburn, Hill is helping others while still weightlifting ... and still waiting.

"I am still holding onto hope, and saying, 'You know, maybe this will go away.' I need to compete. It's part of me; it's who I am."